Japan generated over half a billion dollars from subscription music streaming in 2022

March 8, 2023 FA8Dd 0 Comments

We have previously pointed out that four of the world’s top five recorded music markets – namely the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France, which are the first, third, fourth and fifth largest respectively – consider all music streaming as their primary revenue generator.

In Japan, the world’s second-largest recorded music market (according to the IFPI), physical music, and more specifically CDs, remain the dominant format.

Streaming East is, however, beginning to contribute significantly to the overall market revenue pie, with revenue from subscription streaming in 2022 reaching 75.62 billion yen.

This number converts to US$575 million at average annual exchange rates (according to the IRS), and represents a 19% revenue growth of paid music services such as Spotify And Apple Music

This is according to new statistics released by the local trade body RIAJ (Recording Industry Association of Japan), which reports that overall streaming revenue (including ad-supported and subscription revenue) reached 92.8 billion yen ($705 million) in 2022, up 25% year-on-year (see below). below).

Digging deeper into RIAJ’s figures, revenue generated from ad-supported music streaming in the market reached 5.99 billion yen (US$45 million), up 129% year-on-year.

Elsewhere, advertising revenue from music videos hit 6.5 billion yen ($49 million), reflecting 29% year-on-year growth.

Overall, revenue generated from digital sources including streaming (subscription and ad-supported plus downloads) in 2022 topped 100 billion yen for the first time in 2022, up 17% YoY annual to reach 105 billion yen ($798 million).